Sohagpur

Sohagpur lies in the wooded country south of Bandhavgarh. Its Virateshwar temple, dedicated to Shiva, rises above an old settlement rich in carved stone and other remains. The temple belongs to the artistic world of the Kalachuri rulers, whose power extended across this part of central India; scholars have placed it in the eleventh or twelfth century. Local tradition remembers the place as Viratpuri, associated with King Virata and the exile of the Pandava brothers.

A later ruling family of Sohagpur traced its origin to Jamni Bhan, a younger son of the Baghela ruler Virbhan Singh. He settled here and encouraged newcomers to clear and inhabit the surrounding land. In the early nineteenth century much of the Sohagpur and Bandhavgarh country passed to the Marathas and then to the British, as the authority of the older regional rulers changed.